Mumbai gang-rape victim collapses in court while testifying against her attackers

An Indian photographer gang-raped in Mumbai in a case that shocked the country collapsed in court on Thursday while she was testifying against her alleged attackers, reports said.

The 22-year-old had taken the stand to recount her ordeal that took place in an overgrown and abandoned mill compound in central Mumbai in August, while she was out on assignment taking photographs.

“The rape survivor fainted during the deposition after which we stopped the proceedings and I requested the court that she be referred for medical help,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

The woman was giving evidence in the trial of four men accused of raping her, while a fifth juvenile accused is being tried separately.

Nikam described her as “confident (and) articulate” but at times “tense” and requesting small breaks in her testimony, PTI reported.

The attack sparked outrage in the financial hub Mumbai, which has long been considered safer for women than the capital New Delhi, where the fatal gang-rape of a young student in December shook the nation.

The four adults accused in the Mumbai case have been charged with offences including gang-rape, unnatural sex, illegal confinement, destruction of evidence and conspiracy.

They also tied up and beat a male colleague accompanying the woman, police say.

The judge adjourned the case until Friday.

Last month a court convicted four men and sentenced them to death over the Delhi gang-rape.

The 23-year-old victim died of grievous internal injuries on December 29 after she and her male companion were lured onto a bus and attacked by a gang of six on their way home from the cinema.